Do you think this also might have something to do with the difference between the phrases "this state" and "the state?"
"To admit to membership in a state," one would have to be in "this state" for this to be so.
Remaining outside the enfranchisement, one is in "the state" which is foreign to "this state."
The word games these people play is fantastically outrageous! Say or admit to the wrong thing, and you've just lost your rights.